There's an app for that: Content analysis of paid health and fitness apps

Abstract

Background: The introduction of Apple's iPhone provided a platform for developers to design third-party apps, which greatly expanded the functionality and utility of mobile devices for public health. Objective: This study provides an overview of the developers' written descriptions of health and fitness apps and appraises each app's potential for influencing behavior change. Methods: Data for this study came from a content analysis of health and fitness app descriptions available on iTunes during February 2011. The Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) and the Precede-Proceed Model (PPM) were used as frameworks to guide the coding of 3336 paid apps. Results: Compared to apps with a cost less than US $0.99, apps exceeding US $0.99 were more likely to be scored as intending to promote health or prevent disease (92.55%, 1925/3336 vs 83.59%, 1411/3336; P